Skip to main content

Full text of "1891 Report of the NEC of the SLP"

See other formats


1891  Annual  Report  of  the 

National  Executive  Committee  of  the 

Socialist  Labor  Party  of  America, 

December  18, 1891 

Published  in  The  People  [New  York],  vol.  1,  no.  43  (Jan.  24, 1892),  pg.  3. 


To  the  M  embers  of  the  Socialist  L  abor  Party: 
Comrades:— 

We  hereby  submit  to  you  our  second  annual 
report,  a  duty  that  we  fulfill  with  all  the  greater 
pleasure  seei  ng  the  report  shows  our  party  to  have 
made  marked  progress  during  the  last  year,  and 
that  it  now  has  reached  a  place  that  it  never  occu- 
pied before.  It  isespecially  gratifying  to  point  out 
that  we  have  made  large  acquisitions  among  the 
English-speaking  el ement.Thecircumstance that 
our  ideas  are  breaking  through  theranksof  Ameri- 
can workingmen  is  an  earnest  of  greater  progress 
in  the  future. 

Party  Fair. 

The  Party  Fair  instituted  by  Section  New 
York  during  the  Christmas  days  of  1890  was  a 
great  success,  thanks  to  the  cooperation  of  the 
comrades  in  the  county  and  of  the  labor  organi- 
zations in  sympathy  with  us.  The  net  proceeds 
amounted  to  $1,365.  This  enabled  the  N  EC  to 
pay  Oehler,  the  printer  of  the  party's  papers, 
$1,170  of  the$l,700  that  was  owing  to  him,  and 
in  that  way  to  lighten  a  burden  that  had  weighed 
heavily  upon  us. 

Alabama  Coal  M  inersf  Strike. 


proved  by  the  Party,  early  in  1890,  to  show  its 
solidarity  with  the  economic  organizations  of  the 
workingmen,  the  coal  miners  of  Alabama,  whose 
delegates  had  stood  by  the  Socialists  at  the  Con- 
vention of  theAF  of  L  in  1890.  Left  in  the  lurch 
bythegreatAF  of  L,theminers turned  in  distress 
to  our  party.  0  ur  call  for  help  was  not  left  unan- 
swered. Within  a  short  time  we  were  able  to  for- 
ward to  them  the  sum  of  $500. 

D  eL  eo  n's  Agitati  o  n  To  u  r. 

The  plan  of  the  NEC  to  institute  agitation 
tours  by  C  omrades  August  Bebel  of  G  ermany  and 
John  Burnsof  England,  as  mentioned  in  last  year's 
report,  fell  through;  in  its  stead  theN  EC  arranged 
theagitationtourofComradeDeLeon.Thistour 
stretched  through  the  length  of  the  country;  it 
consumed  nearly  three  months  and  had  an  excel- 
lent effect.  Its  cost  amounted  to  $711.75.  Of  this 
amount,  $444.75  was  contributed  by  the  Sections, 
the  remaining  $367  was  supplied  by  the  NEC.  At 
thecommencementofthetour,  theN  EC  wasen- 
abled  to  yield  to  the  request  of  the  C  hicago  com- 
rades, and  placed  Comrades  DeL eon  and  Jonas 
for  a  week  in  that  city  to  aid  in  the  Spring  cam- 
paign. 

May  Day  Agitation. 


Theopportunity  was  offered  to,  and  wasim- 


D  uring  theM  ay  D  ay  celebrations,  C  omrades 


NEC  of  the  SLP:  1891  Annual  Report  to  the M  embership  [Dec.  18, 1891] 


Pattberg,  Forker,  and  Jonas  were  sent  to  H  artford, 
Philadelphia,  Troy,  New  Bedford,  New  Britain, 
Paterson,  and  N  ewark.  Several  other  smaller  agi- 
tation tours  were  arranged,  for  instance,  that  of 
D  eLeon  to  Binghamton,  Pattberg  to  Wilmington, 
and  Jonas  to  New  Haven. 

Agitation  in  the  Coke  Region. 

Of  greater  importance  than  these  was  the 
tour  of  Jonas  and  Delabar  in  the  coke  regions  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  striking  coke  miners,  feeling 
themselves,  namely,  forsaken  by  the  large  national 
organizations  of  labor,  of  which  they  were  mem- 
bers, applied  to  us  for  speakers,  through  our  com- 
rades in  Scottdale,  in  order  to  inspire  the  minors 
with  fresh  vigor  so  that  they  may  be  induced  to 
hold  out  at  least  until  M  ay  1,  when  the  general 
move  for  the  8-hour  day  was  expected  to  bemade 

To  these  striking  workmen  in  distress  the 
NEC  sent  both  financial  aid  and  two  speakers  to 
agitate  among  them,  although  the  conditions  of 
the  coke  region  at  that  ti  me  made  the  work  of  the 
agitators  a  dangerous  one.  N  everthel  ess,  Jonas  and 
D  elabar  were  commissioned  to  address  the  strik- 
ers, and  their  Socialist  speeches  stirred  their  hear- 
ers. H  ereby  the  coke  regions  of  West  Pennsylva- 
nia werebrought  into  contract  with  our  Party.  Fur- 
thermore, the  latter  end  of  DeL eon's  agitational 
tour  fell  through  that  same  district  and  was  effec- 
tive in  the  highest  degree. 

ThePittsburcfier  Volksz&tung. 

To  preserve  what  had  been  gained  and  make 
still  greater  progress,  a  basis  for  action  in  that 
neighborhood  became  necessary.  T  hefittest  place 
was  Pittsburgh.  The  situation  in  Pittsburgh  and 
Alleghany  City  was,  however,  not  an  encourag- 
ing one.  Owing  to  the  suspension  of  the 
Pittsburgher  Arbeiter  Zeitung  and  the  accompa- 
nying sacrifices  of  money  and  time,  great  despon- 
dency prevailed  among  our  comrades.  T  he  move- 


ment threatened  to  col  lapse  there,  and  it  its  then 
condition  could  not  serve  as  a  starting  point. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  restore 
confidenceto  thecomrades  themselves.  T  his,  how- 
ever, could  not  be  done  without  a  paper  and  with- 
out placing  in  those  cities  an  agitator  who  could 
undertake  the  work  with  vigor  and  zeal.  Owing 
to  their  previous  failure,  the  comrades  in  Pitts- 
burgh could  not  be  induced  to  undertake  another 
paper.  In  view  of  all  this,  there  was  nothing  left 
but  for  the  N  EC  to  undertake  the  work  them- 
selves. W  ith  the  assistance  of  the/V  ei/i/  YorkerVolks- 
za'ti/ngand  the  self-sacrificing  disposition  of  Com. 
K.  Ibsen,  our  work  became  possible,  and  the 
Pittsburgher  Volkseitung  was  established  as  the 
property  of  the  Party. 

In  Comrade  Ibsen  we  found  the  party 
needed  for  the  post  —  the  able  editor  and  ener- 
getic agitator.  Thefunds  with  which  thisgreat  task 
was  undertaken  barely  amounted  to  $300;  this 
sum  the  Party  sacrificed  to  the  cause.  Today  the 
venture  may  be  considered  a  success.  T  he  paper  is 
firmly  established.  New  life  has  been  infused  into 
our  Sections  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny  City;  the 
movement  there  again  moves;  the  Pittsburgher 
Volkszeitung  penetrates  every  day  deeper  into  the 
coke  regions.  T  he  assistance  of  C  omrade  M  ast  in 
that  region  has  been  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the 
N  EC;through  himthespreadingofthepaperand 
of  literature  is  conducted  with  vigor  and  system- 
atically. 

Growth  of  the  Party. 

As  a  result  of  the  setting  in  motion  of  all 
these  forces  of  agitation  and  activity  in  the  Party, 
wecan  record  the  establishment  of  23  new  Ameri- 
can, 19  new  German,  6  new  Jewish  [Yiddish],  1 
new  Scandinavian,  and  1  new  H  ungarian  Section. 
There  were  2  American  and  5  German  Sections 
dissolved.  That  the  number  of  new  American  Sec- 
tions should  exceed  that  of  the  G  erman  ones  is  a 
most  encouraging  sign  and  onethat  must  urge  us 
to  renewed  efforts. 


NEC  of the  SLP:  1891  Annual  Report  to  the  Membership  [Dec.  18, 1891] 


The  People. 

T  hrough  the  publication  of  T  he  People  by 
the  New  York  Volkszeitung  Publishing  Associa- 
tion, a  great  burden  was  taken  from  theshoulders 
of  the  Party.  Our  English  organ,  TheWorkmen's 
A dvocate,  went  up  i  n  T  he  People  by  a  popular  vote 
of  the  Party.  The  arrangement  made  with  the 
Board  of  D  i  rectors  of  the  Volkszeitung  is  such  that 
the  Party  reserves  full  control  overall  thecolumns 
on  the  page  headed  "Workmen's  Advocate"  [page 
3],  and  that  the  Editor  in  Chief  can  only  be  cho- 
sen with  the  consent  of  the  Party  (National  Ex- 
ecutive Committee).  Our  financial  status  was 
greatly  eased  by  the  removal  of  the  deficit  of  The 
Workmen's  Advocate,  brought  about  by  this  ar- 
rangement. 0  n  the  other  hand,  the  Volkszeitung 
is  now  making  great  sacrifices  for  The  People.  To- 
wards rendering  these  sacrifices  lighter  we  have 
been  able  to  contribute  only  $150.  This  is  a  rea- 
son the  more  why  the  comrades  should  do  all  in 
their  power  to  increase  the  circulation  of  the  pa- 
per. 

The  Sozialist. 

Seeing  that  the  N  EC  had  to  cover  the  deficits 
in  the  party  organs,  it  was  found  that  this  came 
somewhat  in  conflict  with  Art.  4  Sec.  5  of  the 
Constitution,  which  placed  the  management  of 
the  papers  i n  the  hands  of  the  N  ew  York  Section. 
That  Section,  accordingly  asked  the  N  EC  to  as- 
sume the  management;  and  this  was  done  with 
the  consent  of  the  Party.  0  ur  organs  have  de- 
manded heavy  sacrifices  from  us  during  the  year, 
the  sums  devoted  to  them  amount  to  $1,400,  in- 
cl  ud  i  ng  three  months  for  7  he  Workmen'sA  dvocate. 
The  deficit  on  the  paper  increased  so  that  we  were 
forced  to  appeal  to  the  Party  with  the  alternative 
either  to  suspend  the  paper  or  to  increase  its  sub- 
scriptionsand  advertisers  to  enableitto  continue. 
The  Party  decided  in  favor  of  continuance,  yet, 


not  withstanding  all  the  efforts  of  the  manager, 
no  marked  improvement  has  been  noticeable.  But 
for  the  $80  received  from  the  Labor  Lyceum  we 
could  not  have  continued  the  paper. 

Labor  News  Company. 

U  nder  the  weight  of  these  burdens,  the  La- 
bor New  Company  has  suffered  greatly.  The 
troubles  within  the  Party,  and  now  fortunately 
over,  the  lack  of  funds,  and  the  further  circum- 
stance that  we  had  d  uri  ng  the  fi  rst  years  to  devote 
all  ourenergiestothebuildingupoftheParty,  all 
these  contributed  to  bring  the  Labor  N  ewsC  om- 
pany  to  the  very  verge  of  dissolution.  From  all 
possible  sources,  here  as  well  as  abroad,  the  "Ro- 
senberg Executive"  had  raised  loans,  and  in  that 
way  not  only  heaped  up  debts,  but  impaired  our 
credit.  H  ence  most  of  the  orders  could  not  be 
filled,  or  were  filled  with  small  profit.  Only  by 
slow  degrees  were  we  in  a  condition  to  pay  off 
these  debts,  in  that  way  enabling  our  Manager  to 
establish  new  connections  and  to  place  the  Labor 
N  ews  C  ompany  on  a  profitable  basis. 

M  uch  is  yet  to  be  done  and  should  be  done 
in  this  direction  were  not  our  hands  too  much 
tied  up.  W  ith  but  a  few  hundred  dollars,  the  La- 
bor News  Company  could  be  placed  upon  a  foot- 
ing where  it  could  render  invaluable  services  in 
the  publication  and  distribution  of  pamphlets, 
leaflets,  and  other  works  that  could  promote  the 
agitation.  All  that  our  comrades  could  do  should, 
therefore,  bedoneto  second  the  efforts  of  the  N  EC 
in  this  direction. 

Brussels  Congress 

I  n  the  matter  of  the  delegation  of  C  omrade 
[Lucien]  Sanial  to  the  Brussels  Congress  there  is 
nothing  to  add  except  that  he  carried  out  the  in- 
structions of  the  N  EC.  The  comrade's  work  at 
Brussels  is  known  to  you  all.  W  ith  regard  to  some 
matters,  touching  the  labor  movement  in  America, 


NEC  of  the  SLP:  1891  Annual  Report  to  the M  embership  [Dec.  18, 1891] 


the  N  EC  will  take  the  proper  steps  to  introduce 
them  to  the  labor  organizations.  To  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  the  delegate  ($275),  an  extra  per  capita 
tax  had  to  be  imposed.  Some  Sections  are  still  in 
arrears  on  this  tax. 

National  Convention. 

The  Party  decided  against  the  holding  of  a 
Convention  this  year—  1891.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  in  the  course  of  the  year,  State  0  rganizations, 
looking  to  political  action,  were  formed  by  our 
comrades  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  New  Jer- 
sey, Connecticut,  and  M  assachusetts,  and  of  the 
further  fact  that  we  are  approaching  a  Presiden- 
tial election,  the  Party  shall  have  to  decide  again, 
whether  or  not  it  shall  hold  a  National  Conven- 
tion in  1892. 

H  armony. 

I  n  the  matter  of  "Union,"  brought  up  by  Sec- 
tion Jersey  City  Heights,  which  standsoutsidethe 
Party,  and  by  some  of  our  own  Sections,  nothing 
morecould  bedonebytheN  EC  because  the  large 
majority  of  our  own  Sections  either  voted  against 
or  wholly  ignored  the  proposals  made  by  the  N  EC. 
This  only  proved  that  the  Party  is  of  the  opinion 
that  there  is  noting  to  unite  inasmuch  as  admis- 
sion into  the  party  is  free  to  the  couple  of  Sec- 
tions that  still  adhere  to  Cincinnati  [Rosenberg's 
group],  there  being  no  fundamental  difference 


dividing  us.  In  such  places  were  there  still  exist 
Sections  of  both  sides,  and  where  our  Party  has 
gone  into  thecampaign,  all  worked  harmoniously 
together. 

National  Secretary. 

A I  most  at  the  cl  ose  of  the  year  it  became  nec- 
essary to  choose  a  new  N  ational  Secretary  by  rea- 
son of  the  resignation  of  Comrade  [Benjamin] 
G  retsch.  Wefeel  sure  that  C  omrade  [H  enry]  K  uhn 
will  display  the  thorough,  able,  and  conscientious 
qualities  of  his  predecessor. 

General  Outlook. 

I  n  many  respects,  the  year  that  is  about  to 
end  has  been  an  important  one  for  our  Party  and 
the  spread  of  our  ideas.  M  any  an  important  step 
has  been  taken,  but  many  more  remain  to  be 
taken.  At  the  end  of  our  term  we  only  have  to 
express  the  hope  that  our  comrades  will  cooper- 
ate harmoniously  with  the  new  N  ational  Execu- 
tive Committee  towards  the  fulfillment  of  our 
mission:  to  continue  the  spreading  of  Socialism 
over  the  land  with  renewed  zeal  and  vigor. 

Socialism  is  growing  in  America.  Three 
Cheers  for  Social  Revolution! 

Straden,  Gr/esbecfc,  Goldschmidt,  Pattberg, 
Schweppendick,  Flechsig,  Schwartz. 

Brooklyn,  Dec.  18, 1891. 


Edited  by  Tim  D  avenport 

Published  by  1000  Flowers  Publishing,  Corvallis,  OR,  2010.  *  Non-commercial  reproduction  permitted. 


http://www.marxisthistory.org